The Odd Couple Part 2
by Bless-Bunneh
Summary: Draco and Hermione spend the summer house-sitting in the country. When strange and dark things begin to occur they soon find out that maybe things where not safer at Hogwarts. Mystery and romance and of course much humor! Chapter 3 is here people :)
1. The Summer Holidays

The Odd Couple Part 2 -  
  
This story takes place shortly after the events of 'The Odd Couple'. I  
strongly recommend that you read that fanfiction before you embark upon  
this sequel. Fans of the Odd Couple, I want to thank you all very much  
for writing to me and for reviewing my story. I hope you enjoy part 2  
just as much ^_^  
  
Chapter 1 - Summer Holiday.  
  
"Now, you are sure that you two shall be alright?" Hermione's mother  
looked upon her daughter and frowned with concern.  
"Of course they will dear! Now lets hurry!" Hermione's father tugged upon  
her mother's sleeve "Our daughter is 17 now, and she has her friend to  
help keep the place tidy!"  
"Oh Hermione darling!" Her mother bent down and pressed rushed kisses on  
her daughters check. "Please take care, the dental convention is only for  
the week. We shall see you soon!"  
"Come on dear! We shall miss our train! Be good Hermione!" And with that  
Hermione's parents hopped onto the train and slammed the door shut. With  
a loud creak and a hiss, the train set away and Hermione stood and  
watched until it was completely out of sight. She was dressed in the  
usual muggle clothing. A small strappy top, tight fitting jeans and very  
scruffy looking trainers. Her hair was pulled back into a pony-tail, as  
it was far too hot to have it loose about her ears.  
"Your parents are pretty strange." Draco looked down the tracks and  
raised his eyebrows. "They worry too much." Draco, dressed in a loose  
summer shirt and plain black trousers, looked to Hermione quite normal  
(and cute!) but he felt an utter fool in muggle clothing, so he insisted  
on keeping his smart black leather shoes on.  
"It's only because they care for me." Hermione sniffed. "Should we go  
check out the house?" She grinned, pulling a large metal key from her  
pocket and swinging it on her finger.  
Draco and Hermione where down in Norfolk for the summer. Hermione's Aunt  
Florence owned a converted barn and as she was away in Australia Hermione  
and Draco where left house sitting. Draco hadn't been in the muggle world  
for more than two weeks, and he found everything to be both very bizarre  
and an inconvenience. And it wasn't just the culture shock, it was class  
shock as well. Draco had all his life lived waited on hand and foot in a  
vast manor house. Servants had taken care of things like cooking and  
cleaning, Draco couldn't get used to helping Hermione wash up the dishes.  
And no magic either! It was awful!  
  
They strolled through an idyllic churchyard and stopped to sit on a  
crumbling redbrick wall, to bask in the heat of the midsummer.  
"That's an impressive temple." Draco yawned, shading his eyes with his  
hand and kicking his feet against the wall. Before them St George's  
church towered upwards and disappeared into the suns glare.  
"It's called a church." Hermione chuckled. She thought Draco's innocent  
ignorance of anything Muggle was so sweet. "Here in the muggle world  
people have many religions, and worship many gods."  
"Is that one black or white magic?" Draco asked, pointing to St George's.  
Hermione shrugged and hopped off the wall. "It's just a church." She said  
flatly. "Lets go, I want to see the house!"  
They walked out of the sun, through a rusted gate and down an ally-way  
dappled in cool shadows.  
  
"Oh wow!" Hermione skipped on the spot and clapped her hands. They had  
arrived at last at their new home for the next week. It was everything  
Hermione had hoped it would be. Redbrick like those of the churchyard  
wall, all aged and dusty. The converted barn was immense, and the roof  
slanted with lead slates. Dry tall grass rustled in the faint breeze, and  
dry forests surrounded the entire property. They stood behind a large  
wooden gate and wondered at it beauty. Lucky Aunty Florence Hermione  
thought. Living here, in this wonderful old building. Hermione spotted a  
sty and clambered nimbly over, Draco following.  
"It looks so old!" He said, breathless from the long walk from the  
churchyard.  
"And it's so quite. We must be quite aways from the town." Suddenly  
Hermione paused and held out her hand. "What's that?" She hissed. Draco  
tilted his head. He could hear the murmur of the birds in the trees,  
humming of insects, the soft rush of air in the grass. And what else? A  
padding of feet? More than one person, but it was so soft.  
"Stay here! I'll check it out." Draco held Hermione back and crept  
forwards. It sounded like it was coming from a side barn. As he got  
closer the sounds became louder. Loud sniffing and guttural growls came  
from behind a peeling door. A quick look over his shoulder to glance at  
Hermione filled him with a moment's courage. He flipped the heavy bolt on  
the door and slipped inside.  
Hermione bit her fingernails as she watched Draco disappear inside. Five  
seconds later she saw him slam back through the door, his face stricken  
with fear.  
"Get over the fence!" He yelled, thudding towards her and waving her arms  
madly.  
"Huh? Wh..." She started, and then she too whirled about and ran for the  
gate. From out of the shed bounded three wild looking doberman dogs, they  
snarled and snapped at Draco's heels. Hermione quickly leapt over the sty  
and gripped the gate, urging Draco to run faster.  
"Waaaagh!" Draco reached into his shirt and pulled out his wand. What  
the? He still carried it about with him?  
"No Draco! No magic!" Hermione tried to shout over the commotion, however  
she was too late. There was loud bang and horrific yelping followed by a  
puff of green smoke. Draco dashed out from the smoke and hopped over the  
fence.  
"Phyew!" He grinned at Hermione. "That was close!"  
Hermione was gob-smacked. She loved Draco and everything, in a weird way  
she couldn't understand sure, but she still cared for him. But even so,  
he could be so.. so.. infuriating! She hadn't even gotten through the  
front door of their summer home and he had murdered her Aunts dogs. And  
he was using magic outside Hogwarts! "Draco! You just killed my Aunts  
dogs!" She mouthed, fixing him with her most evil gaze. He laughed slyly  
and pointed to the scattering smoke, three French poodles stood there in  
the grass, looking very confused, and not quite as ferocious. "Just a  
little spell. Its not safe having three brutish dogs hanging about here."  
And winking at Hermione he hopped over the fence and past the poodles.  
They snarled and snapped at him, and he hurried past, still looking a  
little worried. Hermione rolled her eyes and followed after him. She  
would make sure he turned them back later on.  
  
The large key clicked in the lock, and with the poodles at their feet  
Hermione and Draco pushed their way inside their new home.  
"Wow!" Hermione looked up, it was so large inside. Wooden beams arched  
upwards and rafters criss-crossed overhead. They wandered from the  
hallway to the kitchen, which was warm and muggy and smelled of dried  
herbs. Gloomy too. She flicked a light switch up and down, nothing.  
"The electricity isn't working." She said, clicking the switch  
repeatedly.  
"Well, that just makes it more romantic doesn't it?" Draco purred in her  
ear. Hermione swatted him away and blushed. "Get away!" She babbled,  
brushing past him to the living room. A fine looking Georgian fireplace  
was the centrepiece of the room, surrounded by a heavy mantel. Worn but  
comfortable furniture lined the walls. Hermione noticed there was no TV.  
Good thing really. Draco and Television, two things that don't go well  
together. He already had blown up the television back at Hermione's  
house. It had startled him, and he still didn't understand how it worked.  
  
"Gaah, its so hot!" Draco wandered in fanning himself with his hand.  
Hermione thought it was a shame they couldn't use the fire. In winter it  
must be so nice to have its warmth and light. Romantic too. And she loved  
the smell of pinecones on the fire.  
"This place is great." She smiled, sure that her and Draco where going to  
have an amazing summer break here in the Norfolk countryside.  
  
**  
  
Night had fallen. Hermione made Draco feed the poodles and secure them  
all outside, tied to the fence. Then they settled down in the living room  
to relax. Hermione lay with her head resting on Draco's lap. She was  
engrossed in a book titled 'The Mystery of the Pink Crayfish'. Draco was  
sitting on the floor with his back against a chair, stroking Hermione's  
hair and asking her continual questions about the muggle world.  
"I still don't get 'cars'."  
"Hmmm?"  
"Why don't people fly." It was far too much like hard work to go into  
the ins and outs of Chritianity to Draco.  
"They do."  
"What, on brooms?"  
"Airplanes."  
"What?"  
"Like cars, but in the sky."  
"What? Stupid muggles." He muttered.  
Hermione turned the page and left Draco to wonder about 'sky-cars'. It  
was hard having to explain things to him all time. She had bought him a  
children's encyclopaedia with pictures, but she had a feeling he lost it,  
or blown it up. He wasn't the most patient person she knew.  
The night ticked by, and Draco slumbered as Hermione lay propped up on  
him. He awoke suddenly, Hermione was poking him. Hard.  
"Ow!" He slapped her hand away. She looked up at him, her eyes shone with  
worry. "What's the matter?" He snapped, annoyed at being woken up.  
"Didn't you hear that?" She whispered.  
"No."  
"Shhh." She pressed her hands on him and looked about in the darkness.  
Beside her a candle guttered. The 'Pink Crayfish' lay on the floor, open.  
  
Draco sighed. "No. I didn't hear anything. What is it?"  
"The dogs! They where screaming!"  
"What?"  
"It sounded horrible, like the desperate cries of death."  
"Hmm." Draco ruffled her hair and chuckled to himself. "That 'Mystery of  
the Pink Crayfish' has been giving you bad dreams."  
Hermione looked up at him and puffed out her cheeks. "At least lets go  
check on them! And bring your wand!"  
"What? And use magic outside Hogwarts?" He joked.  
Hermione scrambled to her feet "Come on!" and she grabbed his hand and  
pulled him up. As they passed through the kitchen Hermione went to the  
sink and grabbed a large knife. "just in case" she said.  
Slowly, carefully, Hermione clicked open the lock and pushed open the  
door. The night was barley lit by a crescent moon, and the forest was  
swallowed in darkness. Hermione wrapped her arms about Draco's arm and  
together they head off towards the gate where Draco had tied the dogs  
earlier that evening. It was too dark to make anything out, but as they  
got closer Hermione could see the silhouette of the three dogs, laying on  
the floor.  
"See, they are sleeping." Draco said. "Now lets go back inside.  
"Wait!" Hermione let him go and kneeled down, placing her hand upon one  
of the dogs. "Oh God. Its wet! Give me some light."  
"Lumos." Draco held his wand up and the light beamed out. Hermione gasped  
and stood up suddenly. There on the ground three small corpses lay. Each  
with it belly torn open and intestines strewn over the grass. Blood  
sprayed in all directions, the violence of it all was shocking. She  
looked closer, each of them had had their eyes gouged out, and she could  
see from their gaping jaws their teeth had been cracked and chipped away.  
No animal had done this.  
"Oh my God." Hermione whispered. "Who did this?"  
"Whatever it was, it can't be far away." Draco said, extinguishing his  
wand.  
  
**~** Wow. That's a nice start to the holidays no? I'm sorry this chapter  
was all description and not much action, I wanted to set the scene before  
all the good stuff happens ^_^ Creepy stuff too. **~** 


	2. Black Shuck

Chapter 2-  
  
Draco leaned on the spade and wiped his brow. "This is servants stuff!" "Dig!" "If you let me use magic I could.." "Just Dig!" "But Hermio.." "DIG!" Draco looked at Hermione's tiered, angry face. He weighed up the pro's and con's of arguing with her and decided to carry on digging this grave the muggle way. "Sheeze." He muttered, scraping the dry dusty dirt into a pile. "I'm sorry baby." Hermione looked not the least bit sorry her boyfriend had to get all dirty "I'm just so sleepy, I was really scared last night. I might go for a lie down." "Yeah yeah." Draco carried on digging. "I'll see you later."  
  
Hermione trudged off to the large sun-baked house and the door closed a little too loudly behind her. Draco finished the hole (eventually) and looking about to make sure Hermione wasn't watching him from the house, he kicked the remains of the poodles into the hole and hastily and unceremoniously buried them. Whatever had killed them couldn't be as bad as some of the creatures he used to run into playing in his old home grounds. Once the entire orchard staff had been trapped on the outhouse roof for three days by a vicious Tuftniff. They looked so cute, but where deadly. Plus, if anything did show up, he wouldn't think twice about using his wand to protect Hermione.  
  
"Hello? Flo?" A voice carried out of the woods, and Draco turned about to see who had come all the way down here. A girl came happily bounding from the forest and hopped smartly over the fence. "Oh. Hi!" She called. Draco smiled weakly and half heartedly waved. "Who are you?" He asked, looking at her. She had a pretty face, and very short black hair, cut in a messy boyish way. She wore faded jeans, a small strappy top and scruffy looking trainers on her feet. "Is Florence about?" She said, stopping before Draco. Her eyes flickered to his make-shift grave for a fleeting second. "She's away. We are house sitting for her." "Oh. Right." She shifted on the balls of her feet and smiled toothily "I'm Maisy. Maisy Smith." She stuck out her hand. "Right." Draco didn't shake it. He didn't mind Hermione being a Muggle- born, since she was a damn good witch. And well, he liked her. But he didn't want to mix with regular Muggles. "I live up in the town above. Florence keeps my guns locked down here. I wanted my rifle." Draco panicked. Guns? Rifle? What? Draco thought quickly. "No." "No?" "No!" "No what? You don't have my rifle?" "Uh." Draco sweated a little. Bloody Muggles. "No. We have your rifle. But we are fresh out of guns." Maisy's eyes widened. "Um. She keeps the key under that flowerpot. By the shed door." She pointed over Draco's shoulder. "I'll..uh.. just go and get my rifle, then I'll be out of your way." Draco watched her hurry past him, and rummage about by some dusty terracotta pots. She unlocked a door and after a while emerged holding what looked like a shiny wooden stick with metal tubes. Draco dusted his hands on his trousers and wandered over to get a better look. "I have rats, on the farm." Maisy said, pocketing a packet of ammo. "We used to have rats back home." Draco said, still looking at the gun. Maisy noticed his quizzical expression. "Don't you have guns back home?" "No." "From the city eh?" "No..Uh...Yes." Draco said quickly. Damn it! He wished this Muggle would piss off back to her farm already. It was difficult trying to talk about muggle things. "Would you like to try shooting?" She asked. "I don't mind. Any friend of Flo's is welcome." Draco looked back towards the house. Would Hermione mind? She seemed upset. He wasn't sure if he should leave her alone. Plus muggles where not his idea of fun playmates. "Uh.. My girlfriend is sick. I don't want to leave here. You know, in case she needs me." "Flo's niece?" Maisy walked quickly past Draco towards the house. "Why didn't you say?" "It's none of your damn business!" He snapped. "Hell yeah it is! We where childhood friends!" Maisy pushed open the door and stood blinking in the dim light. Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book named 'magical melodies, a history of the Weird Sisters'. She saw Maisy and quickly hid it. "Maisy?" "Heya Hermione!" Maisy rushed over to Hermione and gather her up in a suffocating hug. Draco stood in the doorway and scowled. "H.hey!" Hermione struggled free and looked up. "I haven't seen you for. um." "About seven years! You look so different." Maisy laughed, sitting down and helping herself to a cup of tea from the pot. "You too!" Hermione lied, thinking Maisy hadn't changed a bit. Draco sat down and grabbed the teapot, it was empty. He scowled again. "I just popped round to get my rifle. Flo keeps it locked in her shed, we have kids on the farm and we don't like to keep the guns close by." "Oh." Hermione smiled. She offered Maisy some cake to go with her tea (the last piece, Draco scowled once again) and they chatted about all the childhood games they played and of the summers Hermione used to spend at her Aunts. Almost an hour had passed when Maisy casually asked. "Who killed the dogs?" "What?" Draco and Hermione said together. They exchanged glances. "Oh come on now. Only the other day I could hear them barking till all hours of the night. No sign of them now, and a freshly dug grave in the garden. Have you called Florence to tell her yet?" "No!" Hermione cried. "We where so worried!" "Hermy!" Draco snapped. "Well, she knows!" Hermione said, in a stressed voice. Hermione explained to Maisy about the terrible noises she heard, and finding the dogs dead the next morning. She left out the part about the poodles. "Oh my God." Maisy breathed, when the story was over. She bit her lip and looked down into her empty cup for a few moments. She seemed to be deciding weather to tell them something. "Have you ever heard of Black Shuck?" She asked at length. "Black what?" Draco huffed. He had heard of a Black Sharg, they used to live in the lake at his old manor house. Big slimy monsters. But never a Shuck. "No." Hermione said. "My Grandfather told me a story once." Maisy said, almost in a whisper, as if what she was about to say was a big secret. "When he was 14 he used to work down the road at the old mill with his brother. They kept the machines clean. It was a four mile walk, and in the winter night falls very early. Once, as they walked home from the mill his brother said he heard footsteps behind them. My Grandfather looked about but saw nothing. For the next few days, after work the same footsteps would follow them though the night. "On the fifth night my Grandfather decided they should hide in the bushes at the roadside and try and see what followed them. Sure enough, halfway home the footsteps started. They quickly ran about a blind turn in the road and leapt into a ditch. The footsteps drew closer and closer, and a breathing deep and loud started. There, in the darkness came a massive dog! The size of a calf, with burning eyes, as big as saucers Granddaddy said! It stopped, opposite them in the road and stared straight at his brother! It was Black Shuck! A hellhound said to wander these parts!" "What happened?" Hermione said, spellbound by the story. "They say, if you look into the eyes of Black Shuck, you die within a year." Maisy said. "In most terrible circumstances!" "D..did he? Die I mean?" "He was caught in a machine at work, it tore up half his arm and he died of blood loss. Some of the workers say he shouted out in fright just before his arm was caught, as if he was startled into the machine! But the weird thing was, the months leading up to his death where also filled with tragedy. His livestock where massacred, and his sister was found dead miles from home, torn to pieces!" Maisy sat back and looked at Hermione. Draco snorted, Hermione looked terrified. "It's just a story though!" Maisy laughed. I'm sure Granddad told me about Black Shuck to scare me into staying in at nights." "Uh huh!" Draco said. "Well, thanks for putting our minds at ease!" He got up and ushered Maisy towards the door. "Oh" she seemed surprised "I was just telling you a story! I meant no harm by it!" "I bet you didn't. Have a nice time zapping rats with your wooden stick!" And he shoved her out the door, slamming it hard. "Do you think Black Shuck killed the dogs?" Hermione asked, her voice a little weak. "No." Draco sat down and hugged her. "That muggle is crazy! And you of all people shouldn't be scared of muggle monsters. The ones back home are by far more deadly." "Yeah. I guess." Hermione laughed. "She always used to try spook me out as kids." But Hermione wasn't convinced. Maisy used to make up all sorts of stories about seeing faries and once meeting a dragon. Hermione thought she was a liar and liked to get attention. But since she moved to the wizarding world she now knew that faries and dragons where real. What if Black Shuck was real too?  
  
** Ohhhhh! Scary ^_^ Black Shuck is a well known tale where I live, also called Old Shuck by some of the guys in the pub. Its said if you see Old Shuck you or your family will die. Arthur Conan Doyle got the idea for 'the hound of the Baskervilles' when he was visiting Cromer (a town a few miles down the road from my house.) and a friend of his told him stories of a Black Hell Hound who stalks the cliffs. Hope I never see shuck! Lol. Part 3 coming soon, and sorry about the big delay in writing this chapter! ** 


	3. The Trouble with Maisy

Chapter 3 -The trouble with Maisy.  
  
"Ohhh bugger!" Hermione plodded to the breakfast table and placed the empty milk carton down. Draco looked up from overflowing bowl of cereal and milk.  
  
"What?" He said in a muffled voice.  
  
"Somebody used up all the milk!" Hermione snapped "I can't think who it was!"  
  
"Hmmm." Draco shrugged and spooned another milky portion of breakfast into his mouth. Hermione flopped down on one of the wooden chairs and glared at him. Draco stared back at her, the spoon suspended before his mouth. "I can't eat with you watching me!" He said at last.  
  
"That's funny. I can't eat either, what with no milk and all!"  
  
Draco picked up his bowl and tipped it over the milk carton, dribbling sugar sweet cereal milk into the container and onto the table. "There. Milk!"  
  
"Waaaaaagh what are you doing?" Hermione jumped up as a trail of milk raced across the table and started dripping onto her lap. Five minutes later Draco was being chased out of the house, a tenner in one hand and a shopping list in the other.  
  
"Bread, milk and sugar! And I want five pounds change out of that tenner!" Hermione shouted from the door before she closed it. Well she had sure recovered from her 'Black Shuck' phase. Only yesterday she had been quiet, timid and jumpy. Draco had been enjoying the peace, and was half tempted to perpetuate the myth just the keep her that way. But soon Hermione's common sense kicked in and she was back to her usual bossy self, saying Black Shuck was a 'load of tat' and that Maisy was 'always a little liar.' Draco smiled, he didn't mind her being back to her normal bossy-ness that much he guessed. That's why he fell for her in the first place. Following the wooded track back the way they had come a few days before, Draco passed through a lonely and shaded pathway for a few minutes before finding (at last) the picturesque churchyard. He quickly paced through here and finally found his way in the small muggle town. Alone! Hermione had never sent him to the shops alone before. Maybe this was a breakthrough in their relationship. Trust! Or maybe it was because Hermione was still in her dressing gown and in a bad mood. Either way, progress! He grinned like the Cheshire cat, and with the shopping list grasped in his hand he marched off towards the first shop he came to.  
  
For so early in the morning this place sure was packed. Fat women with pushchairs blocked the aisles, slow doddering old men titivated in the bread section and generally pissed Draco off, and kids ran about yelling. Finally, balancing bread and sugar in one arm and fighting the desire to blast the muggles with his wand he reached the fridge section and the milk. And just in time too, only one left! As he grabbed the milk in his spare hand. Another hand, not his own, materialised from the masses of shoppers and grasped the milk also. Draco tugged, the hand tugged too. Draco wrestled his hand from side to side, the hand fought back and clung to the milk like a vice.  
  
"Do you mind young man?" A shrill voice cried and a thin and nasty looking woman stepped into view and pulled again on the milk. "This milk is mine!"  
  
"What?" Draco pulled the milk his way "That's a load of bollocks, I had it first!" He snapped.  
  
"Well I... Mind your language boy! I shall call the manager!" The nasty looking woman's eyes narrowed and she glared daggers at Draco, who was quite happy to glare them back. Draco swore again, and much to the delight of the shoppers a small scuffle ensued. An assistant in a blue uniform dashed quickly into the fray and was promptly told to 'sod off' by both parties.  
  
"What's going on here?" A man cried, a small badge with the word 'Manager' was pinned to his chest. The crowd parted to let him through, where he found a young lad and an old woman locked in mortal combat over a carton of milk. The manager, being the chivalrous sort and always believing in the ladies first rule shouted "Let go young man, and leave my store before I call security!"  
  
"All I wanted was some sodding milk!" He cried "And I had it first!"  
  
"I'm calling security now son. You had better just leave the store!"  
  
Draco scowled at the woman, who was grinning smugly at him. He smiled back and grabbing the carton in both hands squeezed until it exploded. The old woman stood dumb struck and dripping milk. Draco was forcefully ejected from the premises, also dripping milk.  
  
"Well sod you then!" He yelled at the shop as security dusted their hands and went back inside. Passers by in the street gave him a wide berth. Draco was now in a very sour mood. No milk? Hermione wasn't going to be happy. The shops security had taken the bread and sugar off him too, before kicking him out.  
  
"That was pretty smooth." Said a familiar voice. Draco looked about to see Maisy standing there, shopping basket in hand. Draco was about to tell her to piss off when his eye caught sight of a carton of milk in her basket. His eyes lit up.  
  
"Hey.. Uh. Missy." He said.  
  
"Maisy."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"My name is Maisy. Are you alright? You seemed to a little bruised and milky."  
  
"Hermy sent me out to buy milk, and I ran into a little trouble in the store." He said, a little moodily.  
  
"Let's get you inside, and clean you up!" She said, steering him towards a nearby pub. The Unicorn. So early in the day the pub had nobody inside, save for the barman who looked quite unsavoury. Maisy sat the still dripping Draco onto a stool and ordered two rum's. The barman didn't even look twice, Draco looked older than his age and could easily pass for an 18 year old. Maisy grabbed a few beer towels off the bar and thrust them into Draco's hands. "Here, you can dry up at least."  
  
"Hmm. Thanks." He said dryly, wiping his face on the smelly cloth. The barman eyed him oddly then went back to his newspaper (the Daily Sport, which is just a cheap excuse for soft porn). Draco looked at his drink.  
  
"Its rum. It always calms me down after a tough day." Maisy said, raising her glass in a salute and downing the contents.  
  
"But, it's the morning." He said. The barman nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, and already you are having a crap day. So drink up!" Maisy laughed, ordering two more drinks. Draco drank his rum and coughed. He was used to the very mild alcohol in butterbeers, but this was positively vile. And hot! Maisy grinned and pushed another into his hand. "Look, I feel sorry for you, and I know how much of a Dragon that Hermione can be. So I'll give you one of my cartons of milk. How's that?"  
  
Draco looked up from his second drink and gawped at her. "Why?"  
  
"Because I'm helping out a fellow human being in need."  
  
"Oh. Right. Well thanks then!" Draco grinned, tipping back his second drink and grabbing the milk. He got up, staggered a bit, and then headed for the door. "See you later then!" He said, slamming the door open. He heard the barman shout 'hoi!' from inside but he didn't care much. Maisy watched him go and grinned.  
  
The alcohol kicked in as Draco was making his way through the forested pathway. Damn that stupid Maisy. Draco had never drunk rum before, and it had gone straight to his head. Hermione was going to kill him. He groaned at the thought and stamped on. As he stumbled a bit he heard behind him footsteps out of synch with his own. Draco was a little light headed, but not pissed. He held his hand near his pocket, ready to grab his wand if need be. Suddenly, and silently a black shape bounded out of the forest and scared Draco witless. Pulling his wand out he shouted a curse before he could think, and watched sadly as a deer fell awkwardly to the ground, dead. Damn. Why was he so jumpy? He didn't believe all this stuff about a Hell Hound. He bent down to make sure the deer was really dead, and was knocked sideways as something large and heavy ploughed into him. His breath knocked out of him, and his head spinning from the alcohol Draco was dazed. He scrabbled for his wand but was bashed again and sent heavily into the side of a large tree. Whatever it was seized his leg and trashed its jaws side to side, a crazed growling issued from its throat. Draco cried out, and kept his eyes closed fast. Maisy's story still fresh in his mind. Those who look at it are cursed to die. Then again it looked like he was going to croak it anyway. He opened his eyes and saw a vast beast hunched over him, its eyes truly where endless pits fire, huge like saucers and burning bright and terrible. Draco gagged in shock, even at home he never saw a beast with such soulless and terrible eyes. His head swam as he saw the tatters the animal was making of his leg. At least grabbing his wand he thrust it deep into the creatures eye. It howled and the noise pierced Draco's heart. Then with a pitiful snarl it tore away into the woods. Draco was stunned. What the fuck was THAT? Wavering into a groggy sleep he shook his head and cast a healing spell on his leg. "Shit." He said. And he staged and tried to stumble to his feet. Falling back he cursed and then jumped in fright. He saw it, a figure melting into the shadows. This was too much. He didn't care about that right now, He had to get back and make sure Hermione was safe. Grabbing the milk (he didn't want to get in trouble with his girl) he made a very shaky and difficult journey back to the house.  
  
**~** Ohhhhhhh. Scary ^_^ Poor Draco, is it me or does trouble follow this guy about like a bad smell? More soon! Oh, and SORRY about being such a lazy loser with updating fics. Im a bad person ( **~** 


	4. Saving Grace?

Chapter 4 -  
  
Draco (eventually) got himself to the house and threw open the front door. Hermione, who was now dressed and looking far more cheerful, looked up from a book she was reading (magical myths) and gasped. Draco looked like hell, and was spattered in blood. His trousers where torn to pieces, and a black eye was swelling up.  
  
"Oh Draco!" She cried, leaping up and rushing to the sink to get a cold cloth. She busied about him and pushed him into a chair where she worried at his eye with the cold press.  
  
"Are you okay?" Draco said, pulling her hand away and getting up. He hobbled to the door and locked it.  
  
"Why yes. I'm fine! What happened?"  
  
Draco hesitated. He was about to tell her all about the beast that attacked her. But she had been such a wreck for the past day or so he was afraid it might totally spook her. Dogs getting attacked was one thing, but her boyfriend is ten times worse. "A.uh.I was attacked by some men. But I fought them off!" He said, rather too quickly.  
  
"Men?"  
  
"Yeah. Bastards!"  
  
"Men tore your trousers?"  
  
"Umm. I think they liked the look of me." Draco said lamely.  
  
"Draco, I don't buy that for a second! Now tell me!" Hermione stormed.  
  
"Look. I don't know what attacked me. But it was huge, and strong."  
  
Hermione's hands flew to her mouth "Black Shuck!" She mouthed before gathering Draco up in a suffocating hug. "Ohhh my baby! What happened? How did you get away? Did you look at its eyes?"  
  
Draco flustered at all her smothering attention and batted her away. "No." He lied, knowing the truth would only upset her more. "I shot a curse out my wand and by sheer luck I managed to hit it without looking." He lied. He didn't believe in some stupid death curse. Course, he hadn't believed in Black Shuck either. He frowned.  
  
"That's it! We are going home!" Hermione stamped her foot.  
  
"How? We only have enough money for housekeeping!" Draco snorted "That's not enough for that bloody train."  
  
Hermione sat down and started to cry "Well I'm not staying here! That thing killed Aunties dogs and it attacked you! What next?"  
  
Draco bit his lip. What if the curse was true? If he wanted to make sure then the only way to be safe was to kill that Black Shuck. Course he wasn't stupid enough to tell Hermione that. "Keep your wand handy. And think of this as one of Hagrids stupid classes about deadly animals." Draco added a little more quietly "That big oaf!"  
  
Hermione was about to chide him for saying bad things about Hagrid, but looking at his rather battered and bashed appearance she figured he wouldn't appreciate a telling off right now. Instead she hugged him.  
  
**  
  
The day flew past with little to speak of. Draco had a shower and changed into his usual black (he had gone for a few days in muggle dress before he flipped out) and now he looked a lot better. Hermione did a healing spell on his eye and all that remained was a little bruising. The whole milk episode was retold to Hermione over lunch, and she laughed so hard she snorted a pea across the table (much to Draco's horror!). Then it was at about 4.00-Oclock when somebody knocked at the door.  
  
**Knock knock knock**  
  
Hermione jumped in her seat (yes, she was curled up and reading again) and Draco reached for his wand and gave her a look that said 'it's okay'. And he opened the door. A girl was standing there, and her attire was just a little bit on the strange side. Black boots, black trousers, a few belts and a knife, a black vest top and a crucifix about her neck. Her hair was blonde and the ends flecked with red, kept tied neatly back in a pony tail. She looked Draco over and smiled.  
  
"Hey." She said.  
  
"What do you want?" Draco replied, any tone of politeness absent from his voice. Hermione popped her head about Draco's shoulder and looked at the pretty girl. She did look strange, who dressed like that in the country? And what did she want?  
  
"My name is Grace." She said "And I think you had better let me in."  
  
"Why the hell should we do that?" Draco drawled, once again taking a dislike to the Muggle kind.  
  
"Because I'm a daemon hunter."  
  
For the briefest of moments Draco's face went even paler than usual, but before Hermione could notice he swung open the door and let Grace inside. Grace strode in, as bold as brass, and sat herself down in Hermione's chair.  
  
"You're here about Black Shuck, aren't you?" Hermione said.  
  
"Yes. I was out in the woods, and found the most bizarre tracks. That of the monster I am hunting, a total mess of blood and disturbed ground, a dead deer and the tracks of two humans. One leading towards the town, one rather bloody set leading here."  
  
Draco sat down and looked at Grace. A Daemon hunter no less? She looked the sort. He saw the necklace she wore, the cross reminded him of the church nearby. His father had taught him all about Daemon hunters. They can be muggle or magic kind. Mostly magic. Hunters belong to societies, ancient orders, and are loyal to the death. Their sole purpose is to hunt down the 'darkness' and destroy it. His father also told him about certain societies of Hunters who don't hunt the darkness, but the light! Draco thought they sounded cool and was considering it as a career option when he left School. That was before he met Hermione anyway.  
  
"Tell me what you know, and saw." Grace said, lighting up a cigarette and interrupting Draco's train of thought.  
  
"You're telling us," Hermione started "that you are here to hunt down Black Shuck? How do you know about him? And where do you come from?" "I know it kills and I know my order has sworn to bring down that beast. That is all you need to know." Grace said.  
  
Hermione frowned. She had a great distrust of the newcomer. This so called Daemon Hunter. Draco didn't trust her either, but then Grace believed in the story, and had seen the tracks from Draco's run in this morning. What was the harm in telling what they knew?  
  
"It killed our dogs a few nights ago. It attacked me this morning."  
  
"What killed the deer?"  
  
"That giant dog." Draco lied. "I remember it attacking me, and a deer happened to pass by at the exact same time. All I can think is it was Shuck. I somehow managed to poke its eye out with a stick. That's all."  
  
"Hmmm." Grace drew upon her fag and puffed smoke out of her nose. "You are very lucky to have escaped. Tell me. Did you look into its eyes?"  
  
Draco paused. He had lied to Hermione about that. But somehow he wanted to tell Grace the truth. If Grace knew, she could tell him how to break the curse. If there even WAS a curse. This was tricky. Draco remembered some of the things Hermione said about the Church, how its HQ was in Rome and was run by a big man called a Poop or something. If this chick had that sign about her neck she might be in with the big Poop's club. "Ho visto gli occhi*, so in answer to your question, No."  
  
Grace nodded. Hermione just looked at Draco in a very funny way. "In any case." Grace said "If it attacked you once it may try again. I need you to help me."  
  
"Help you?"  
  
"Yes. I need you to be bait." Grace said lightly, as if what she asked was nothing at all.  
  
"WHAT?? No fricking way lady!" Hermione burst out. Draco jumped, Hermione never spoke like that unless she was in a really bad mood. "You go and hunt your devil on your own! My poor baby was almost killed today! I'm not having him out there again to be attacked by some beast!"  
  
"Yeah. Okay." Grace stood up and crushed the light from the end of her cigarette between her fingers. She shot Draco a look and said "For somebody almost killed by a Daemon, you're in quite good shape no?" and she left, leaving the door wide open. Hermione stormed after her and slammed it shut, bolting it fast.  
  
"I don't trust her!" Hermione said.  
  
"Me neither, but at least it seems somebody is out there doing something, right?"  
  
** Grace **  
  
Grace sat on the fence outside the warm redbrick house and lit up yet another cigarette. She kicked her heels and scowled as she dragged upon her smoke. Ho visto gli occhi. I have seen the eyes. So the boy knew Italian, he probably had assumed from her career and the cross she was connected to the Vatican. How odd. Most people's reactions to seeing devils is out and out denial. When she introduces herself as a Daemon Hunter most people laugh and call her crazy. These two didn't even hesitate in believing her. The beast would be back, and that boy is going to be her bait, whether he knew it or not.  
  
**~** Yay! Things are starting to hot up no? Beast attacks, Daemon hunters, Hermione getting majorly pissed off and Draco with a pesky death curse ^_^ This is why I love writing fanfiction! Thanks for all your e mails, and reviews. I know I have been real lazy, but I still love getting them!**~** 


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